The present invention relates to layered cooking vessels, and in particular, to a vessel with successive layers that can be removed after using, so the user need not clean.
In a society with many families having dual wage earners, a great emphasis is placed on labor saving devices. There is a great need for saving labor and expediting the preparation of meals.
It is known to fabricate dishes having a plurality of nested layers. The plate need not be clean, but instead, successive layers are discarded. See for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 730,082; 1,574,259; and 3,362,604. These dishes have been made of relatively fragile materials and were therefore unsuitable for use as a cooking vessel. The layers have been formed of paper or plastic and would be likely to ignite if used for cooking.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,542,413 layers made of paper, plastic or composition material can be removed by pulling a tear strip. Note however, the material is still too fragile for cooking.
There are known nested metal receptacles proposed for use as ashtrays or reflector pans: U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,912,860; 3,165,201. The disadvantage with these known systems is that they are kept together simply by the force of gravity. The successive layers disengage simply by lifting the top-most receptacle and discarding it. This unsecured stack of receptacles would be inappropriate for use as a cooking vessel such as a frying pan. The user would either have to use relatively heavy layers to keep the layers from coming apart or risk spilling them if the vessel is upset. Also, if the layers become misaligned, there is a possibility they will become distorted with use. Any distortion would cause a significant air gap between layers which will reduce the ability to transfer heat into the vessel.
Accordingly, there is a need for a cooking vessel with disposable layers that can withstand the heat of cooking and maintain good alignment and heat transfer capability in everyday usage.